Expert group formed to frame RRZ rules -Governance Now

Expert group formed to frame RRZ rules

First time that rivers and floodplains of India will get legal protection

Neha Sethi | May 17, 2011

We might not see any new constructions like the Akshardham temple and the Commonwealth Games Village coming up on the Yamuna river floodplains in New Delhi. The ministry of environment and forests has ordered the constitution of an expert group to formulate the guidelines for management of riverfronts through the river regulation zone (RRZ).

RRZ is an idea which was mooted by green activists more than four years ago. Agreeing to the demand from activists, environment minister Jairam Ramesh announced in January that his ministry would come out with an RRZ notification on the lines of the coastal regulation zone (CRZ) to prevent harmful constructions in the riverbed .

In an order dated May 10, the MoEF has said that the expert group will be headed by J M Mauskar, special secretary in the ministry. There are nine other members in the group including Prof Brij Gopal, a retired professor from the Jawaharlal Nehru University.

“Prof Brij Gopal is the proponent of the need for a river regulation zone in the country,” said Manoj Misra of Yamuna Jiye Abhiyan. Misra has also been writing to the minister emphasising the need for RRZ.

Misra said that this is the first time that the rivers and floodplains of India will get legal protection. “The area of the riverbed will be divided into zones, just as it is done in the case of CRZ,” he said. Misra expected that the zone closest to the river channel would be called RRZ-I and no activities would be permitted on it. “This area should be secured for flood water,” he said.

“In RRZ-II, only ecologically compatible activities should be allowed,” Misra said.

Comments

Other News

Before India voted, the framers worried about the referee

“We are making a Constitution forever and not only for today.” Shibban Lal Saksena said this in the Constituent Assembly on June 15, 1949. He was warning that a ruling party might one day choose a loyalist to run India’s elections. Seventy-seven years later, the Supreme Court is wrestli

Delhi moves to real-time traffic management

The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA), chaired by prime minister Narendra Modi, has approved implementation of the ITMS Project by Delhi Police at an estimated cost of Rs.1,789.52 crore, inclusive of taxes. The project will cover 42 identified traffic corridors and will be implemented in three

MDR on UPI: Can sustainability come without weakening the network?

The extraordinary transaction volumes and value (₹29.82 Lakh crore in August 2026 alone) of the Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have made it not only an Indian success story, but a global one. In 2024, UPI accounted for nearly 49% of the world’s real-time payment transaction volume, with more th

The Xi-Trump summit: The unending rivalry

Diplomacy is akin to an art, wherein the summitry, conflict resolution and negotiations form apt constituents of the entire context of deal making and “playing for keeps” in the international arena. The Xi-Trump summit in Washington last week, in which the American president broke all conside

“Indians, yet treated like outsiders”

Moving to Delhi-NCR for education can be an exciting experience for students from Northeast India. It gives us a chance to meet new people, experience a different culture and become more independent. But living away from home also comes with challenges that people who have not experienced them may not al

Import duty on major edible oils cut

The government has reduced the Basic Customs Duty (BCD) on major imported crude edible oils with a view to moderating domestic edible oil prices, providing relief to consumers and mitigating inflationary pressures arising from the sharp increase in international edible oil prices.